Here are some pics of my buck from my high buck trip this year. Me and three friends backpacked in on the 14th and set up camp. This is the third year we have made this hunt. On the morning of the 15th I climbed to an area that I hunted last year, before daylight. Day light came and I found 4 deer about 1200 yards away feeding. As it got brighter out I realized all 4 deer were bucks. The bad part was the 1200 yards across a shale rock hillside that separated us. I called my friend Jeff on the radio and had him come help me plan a stock.
When he got to me we looked at the big 4x4 through the spotting scope to verify that he was a trophy, (at least to me).
We decided to make a stock on the buck. From where we sat the deers range was 1089 yards, there was a small rock out cropping in some trees that ranged at 550 yards so I figured if I could get to those rocks I could get a 540 yard shot on the deer.
We slowly made it down the hill through some small trees that helped keep us covered. One of us had our eyes on the deer at all times making sure he did not spook. We made it to one last small hill to go down to the rock out cropping and the buck stood up, I thought we were busted so we held our ground and a few minutes later the buck started feeding. I slowly crept down to the rocks and laid down. Range found the deer at 536 yards I dialed the scope on my 300 ultra mag and got ready for the shot. The buck gave me a perfect broad side shot I slowly squeezed the trigger and boom, the deer didn't move, I missed! I chambered a second round and realized there was a steady 5 mph wind so I held about a half a minute of wind on the deers front shoulder. The second shot found it mark the buck rolled about 50 yards down the hill and never moved again. My hunt was over 3 hours into the first day. For a guy who has hunted blackies his whole life this is by far the biggest deer I have ever taken. I estimated the body to be close to 300lbs. The horns measured 26 1/2 inches wide and he will score around 160-170. I will tell all of you, if you want a low cost hunt of a lifetime head in for the high buck hunt. There are some amazing places in our wilderness areas that are not that hard to get to. Hope you all enjoyed the story.
